SuperFanArt Update

Hi All,

I wanted to let you know that as of July 15, 2015, SuperFanArt, the collaboration between Shapeways and Hasbro, will be coming to an end. I want to thank everyone for being a part of this groundbreaking collaborative experiment that we at Shapeways and our friends at Hasbro have been incredibly proud of. However, even exciting experiments have an endpoint.

Hasbro and Shapeways are both glad to have been able to showcase community art through SuperFanArt. We received a great response from both press and fans, and believe that this partnership helped to move the needle for both 3D printing and the way brands think about IP in very important ways. This was the first collaboration of its kind and we've learned a lot in in the process about what works and what doesn't work for us and our community.

We've also formed some strong relationships between major brands, their creative fans and 3D printing. We hope to be able to work together in the future, and are always on the lookout for more brands to partner with to give you more opportunities to showcase your fan art.

- Andrew (community manager)

What about my sculpture that I spent around 60 hours making? Am I going to be compensated for my effort?

This was a shock after the last update being extremely positive 5 months back. What's worse, new designs submissions were postponed until the relaunch of Super Fan Art 2.0. After leading people on for almost half a year, it seems wrong to end it abruptly after all the hard work. There should be a grace period for us to submit our final designs that we have been working on.

To make it clear again, we were not allowed to submit new designs after the last update around February, but we were still encouraged to design for the future 2.0 relaunch. So it's not like today was the day we can't submit anymore and its our fault for not submitting work this whole time, we couldn't. Not a very pleasant way to end this, as I'm sure there are many artist frustraded that the work they continued on is now useless.

If it's going to end, give us time to submit final designs that we couldn't while we were patiently waiting for the next big update.

https://youtu.be/yJxCdh1Ps48

I looked over the email from Februray 19th to SFA artists, here's what we were last told:

Approvals for New Art: Until SFA 2.0 is live on the site and the process is streamlined, artist submissions and new uploads are on hold. Please keep designing, but know that it may be a little while before we can approve your new designs.

Oh wow, that really sucks for those of you who were involved. I was following along, excited about future possibilities with companies more aligned with my interests.

Andrew, can you tell us more specifically about why the experiment ended, and what your excited about for the future? Was it too niche (not enough cash) for the big guys? Do we need a better way for fans and companies to interact and be paid?

The news came indeed rather short notice and unexpectedly and abruptly. A grace period would be nice, but Shapeways probably doesn't have the license to extend it.
Did I understand it correctly though that the shops can remain active, just not have any more new content? Or will they be closed down as well after a while?

Hey to clarify, ending this program works in the following ways:

The 11 designers who were initially approved get to keep their designs up, they will receive all the markup from any sales. Future models uploaded to these shops will not be licensed.

Any other designs are subject to the same content policy as the rest of the website, IF we receive a DMCA take down we will remove the respective products from the website.

But that's not fair. Doesn't anyone care about what's fair?

Here's another question. Are any of the "The 11 designers" employees of Shapeways? Here's why I ask that.

I kept track of every submission so as to see what everybody was submitting. Then I saw someone get approved for a SuperFanArt submission they made AFTER I made my submission! That's when I really started voicing my questions as to why my submission was never approved.

So, why would Shapeways completely ignore questions about my submission and why wasn't it ever approved? Is my submission lacking in quality? No. No one would say that my sculpture was not up to par. Oh no, it would have to be some other really big reason. Like PROFITS! Why approve someone that wasn't an employee of Shapeways and have to pay them a commission on every sale.

Why doesn't Shapeways tell anyone what's actually going on concerning SuperFanArt?

What does Pete have to say about all of this?

The superfanart page is still up and has their names, should be quite easy for you to cross-check with forum posts and/or designer portraits.
And I guess you would have to ask hasbro why they preferred some other renditions of their IP over yours (and be a bit careful in your choice of words wrt defamation)

I'm not an employee of Shapeways by any means. As for approval of our designs, I can't say there was much of any process in place after the launch. By the time I got around to submitting a 2nd design, most my initial contacts involved had moved on to other things. I was then forwarded to those that were currently in charge, but most my questions about the state of SFA, where new artists can apply, submission process, all were skipped.

If you were already an artist, you had one big advantage to the approval process, your personal SFA store. Just like the account I'm using right now, we can log into our store and upload and order new designs on our own. That's what I did with my 2nd design, Rarity, and my quest for approval. I uploaded it, made it public, but not for sale, and ordered a personal copy for myself for printability verification, plus I wanted a copy . Then I started asking around about approval. When I finally was put in touch with those currently in charge, instead of answering my questions, they diverted my order to ship to Hasbro for photographs. They didn't explain if photos were required, if they were going to then ship the model to me after, or if not, who pays for it. Later a Shapeways employees finally gave me credit because I never got answers from Hasbro.

Then my 2nd quest started to get Rarity added to the MLP section next to my other print. Until they did, no one would know it's there unless they click on my first design and see related prints or visit my store. After months it was never done. At one point a Shapeways employee requested it to be done and to remind him after week if it didn't happen. I sent the reminder and never heard back.

Basically, it seemed like the whole process for SFA slowly fell apart until finally that February email that pretty much put everything on hold until they relaunched with a bigger and better SFA.

Yes, I'm well aware of who the 11 designers are. However, it would be impossible for someone looking in from the outside to determine if Shapeways has any of them on the payroll. Which is the reason I asked. Someone from Shapeways would need to state whether this was the case or not. I'm simply trying to find an explanation for why, after submitting my design and signing the contract that I received shortly thereafter, there was then no communication whatsoever concerning anything else about my submission.

As for getting any answers out of Hasbro, here's what Kaitlin Coughlin – Sr. Licensing Manager at Hasbro had to say about my questions concerning SuperFanArt, "I do not know anything about the Superfan art so I can't comment on that." This was the answer I got from her on November 5, 2014. So in other words, trying to get any answers out of Hasbro concerning SuperFanArt doesn't work.

No malice here, I'm simply pointing to a possible smart business move that Shapeways may have made in this instance. I used to be in a position of hiring and firing and I used to tell people that a business is like a machine, a machine that makes money and that machines have no emotions. And when a part of the machine is not functioning properly other parts of the machine will replace the parts that are not functioning properly. There are no emotions involved with machines, so don't feel bad about being a part of a machine that needed updating. Why I asked the question is to see if someone at Shapeways would answer with something like, "Yes, James, that's what happened. And no you won't be compensated for your work because legally we don't have to compensate you." Or something along those lines. Something other than nothing.

Reading about your insider experiences with SuperFanArt causes me to wonder if the reason the whole thing went off so poorly was because of poor management. If I were managing this, I'd rent an apartment for an employee to live in the city where Hasbro headquarters is located. And I would have them scheduling in person meetings whenever possible for every step of the way to make the whole thing work. Done right this would make millions in profits for Shapeways. Done in a lackadaisical manner what you get is everybody complaining and you may be make enough profit to pay the power bill for a few months.

<humor>Have you ever BEEN to Pawtucket Rhode Island?</humor>

Shapeways may be a big player in consumer 3dprinting, but that must be still a rather little known nor understood niche market - I guess dropping their name at Hasbro or similar corporations will get you nothing but a blank stare.
I rather suspect this whole thing was the brainchild of some enthusiastic new guy in lower or middle management at Hasbro who got approval to use their normal processes for it (processes which are likely geared towards businesses like Kellogg wanting to put a few figurines, designed for them by some well-known and well-connected firm, into 2 billion cereal boxes worldwide). So suddenly they had tens of figurines that were created by talented but unknown amateurs on their hands, the project quickly went out of hands and over budget, and somebody pulled the plug on it. (And the guy behind it probably became their new sales manager for Syria and North Korea or something)
Just my view from the (irrigation) trenches...

Or maybe from the highest ranks:
Then: http://direman.com/direman/comic.php?comicID=817
Now: http://memegenerator.net/instance/35840951
^_^

A lot of big companies don't even license anything unless they can be guaranteed the sales of tens of thousands of units by the licensee and a minimum amount of revenue. It just isn't worth it to them to do otherwise. As far as a large company working with a 3D printer company and trying to see if something interesting (i.e. profitable) could be developed that's possibly all this turned out to be. Maybe some guy in a board meeting made a suggestion and the lower minions were tasked to see what all the 3D printing buzz was about.

In addition it's an exercise for the legal departments to get some footing in the area to examine the effects on standard licensing or to establish some broad based contractual arrangements with 3D printing companies for longer range IP protection. It's not like 3D printing can produce robust and high quality product right now, so it's good to make preparations for when 3D printing can produce something as good or better and cheaper than an injection molded something or other that is painted and decorated by machines and human handiwork on an assembly line - if ever.

Good one Stannum! That got me giggling!

Stony I didn't get it, probably because I've never been there. Are you making light of the cost of living in the area?

Mkroeker and MrNibbles, very good points.

Hi,

We think the Superfanart program is really pioneering and a fantastic idea! It could be the future model of what collaborative creation with brands and engaging fan communities will be on the web. There are similar initiatives in other media such as the Nintendo creators program which engages online video creators in much the same way. This kind of model really is a win-win, with both sides being able to profit, while copyright holders are still able to keep creative control over their properties. Bravo.